Coach Lachlan Stevens said when he started working with selectors to choose the team he noticed there were a lot of spin bowlers on their list, so they decided to make it a specialty of the squad.

While there has in recent years been talk of a shortage of spin bowlers in Australian men's cricket, the Renegade's Molly Strano said there was a wealth of good female spin bowlers in both the domestic competition and overseas.

Advertisement

The right-arm off spin bowler said she started her career as a batter, but after struggling for runs a few years ago decided to turn herself into an all-rounder.

In the 2014-15 season she was the top wicket-taker in the women's domestic T20 competition with 22 wickets at 12.59.

"It's quite funny watching the trends in the men's game compared to the women's game," Strano said.

"Most of the time the spinners top the wicket-takers list [in the women's game]."

Wyatt said she had been a medium-pace bowler when her father suggested she give spinning a try, because she was never going to be very tall, a disadvantage when trying to bowl fast.

All of cricket was a mind game, Wyatt said, and spin bowlers needed to remain poised and know they could get the batter out.

"You've got to be prepared to be smashed around the park a bit, but you also take wickets as well," she said.

Wyatt said she had found success playing for England bowling off-spin, especially in the T20 format.

"[It's] Coming over and around the wicket, changing my angles, varying my pace, and just being confident really," she said.

Growing up in Werribee in Melbourne's west, Strano said her parents were not cricket fans, so they all learned about the sport together after she was introduced to it at primary school.

Her father was born in Italy and did not grow up watching the game, while her mother was a keen dancer.

Strano's grandmother drove her to state and representative training.

"She's really proud of me, and I play cricket to make her proud," she said.

Strano went on to play Milo cricket, then competed in the boy's competition at Werribee Central and the women's team at Essendon Maribyrnong Park.

From there she got a rookie contract at Victoria Spirit when she was 16.

"You spend so much time sitting on the bench together and on the boundary together, there's so much downtime you do get to socialise and form really good friendships," she said.

"It's a bit of a unique sport, but a good one."

Wyatt has visited Australia to play cricket several times – she appeared for England on Ashes tours and for Victoria.

She said she was good at most sports as a child, including soccer, but she eventually decided to specialise in cricket.

"The social environment of cricket was so good, you'd play your game then you'd stay for a couple hours after the game and have a drink and have some food, the cricket family is so cool," she said.

The Renegades' first game is against the Hobart Hurricanes at Aurora Stadium in Launceston on December 11 at 7pm.